Support for Medicare-style, government long-term care insurance program surges, large AP-University of...
By
Tim Mullaney
May 20, 2014
The idea of a government-run long-term care insurance program similar to Medicare has become much more popular in the last year, according to the findings of a large nationwide survey. Independent research...
Kindred launches hostile takeover bid for home health company Gentiva, deal valued at $1.6 billion
By
Tim Mullaney
May 16, 2014
Kindred Healthcare has launched a hostile takeover to acquire home health company Gentiva, announcing a $533 million bid Thursday. The total deal would be valued at $1.6 billion, including assumed debt.
Hospitals object to collecting their own data as part of post-acute reform, urge revisions to draft legislation
By
Tim Mullaney
May 15, 2014
Hospitals should not be required to collect patient assessment data as part of an effort to revamp post-acute care, the leader of the American Hospital Association argued in a recent letter to top Congressional...
Federal law does not allow former nursing home resident to sue over involuntary discharge, court rules
By
Tim Mullaney
May 14, 2014
A woman involuntarily discharged from an Illinois nursing home does not have the right to file suit under the federal law regulating Medicaid providers, a federal court ruled Monday.
Nursing home to pay $90,000 settlement over firing of HIV-positive nurse
By
Tim Mullaney
May 12, 2014
A Tennessee nursing home has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle charges that it violated federal law in firing an HIV-positive staff member, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Friday.
Cash-strapped feds to cut back Medicare oversight this year, OIG official says
By
Tim Mullaney
May 05, 2014
One of nursing homes’ most vigilant government watchdogs plans to dramatically curb its activities this year, a federal official has told the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health. The Department...
App tracks dementia day to day
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Getting insight into the daily life of someone with dementia often is a difficult goal for family members who are not nearby. There’s now help in the form of a smartphone application conceived by...
This American Life … and death: Superb shows about hospice
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 29, 2014
A few months after Pattie Burnham started working as a hospice nurse, she forgot the name of the president of the United States. That’s normal, her boss told her.
Long-term care facilities approach 80% worker flu vaccination rate after handing power to regional pharmacy,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 18, 2014
Fourteen long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania dramatically increased their staff flu vaccination rate by having a regional pharmacy take over the process, according to a report issued Thursday by...
Hospitals slap the government with lawsuits over ‘two-midnight’ policy to reduce observation...
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 16, 2014
The American Hospital Association and other hospital groups have sued the federal government over the so-called “two-midnight rule,” which was designed in part to ease access to skilled nursing...